Europe Can't Fully Recoup Losses For Companies Leaving Iran - German Minister

The EU, when previously addressing the sanctions re-imposed on Tehran by the US, confirmed their commitment to the Iranian nuclear deal, urging Washington to spare European business from the secondary sanctions.

"We will not be able to compensate for everything that arises from companies pulling out of Iran," Heiko Maas stated before a round of negotiations among the remaining parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has claimed that EU businesses would be forced to wind down their activities in Iran in order to avoid US sanctions. Tehran, for its part, has stressed that world powers should fully compensate the country for the US sanctions to save the deal.

READ MORE: Iran: EU Package on Extending Nuclear Deal 'Disappointing'

In May of this year, US President Donald Trump announced that his country would withdraw from the JCPOA, which ensured the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program, reinstating the previously lifted sanctions on Iran. The unilateral decision faced opposition from the other parties to the deal — Russia, China, France, Germany, the UK, and the European Union.